Prince Po: The Slickness

What was old is new, making all those old rap CDs and tapes I have collector’s items. That’s why I get props from the current rap aficionados for my Ed O.G. & the Bulldogs and K.M.D. tapes. Amongst the old coming back to take the scepter of rap is Prince Po, formerly of Organized Konfusion. Yeah, it ain’t bling-bling rim-rappin’, but neither is it that “backpack rap” that I love but puritans dismiss as whiteboy, college music. I am a whiteboy college grad, so maybe that’s why Prince Po appeals to me, but the whole package is class from start to finish–just look at the embossed album packaging. The production is top-notch, with the help of the producer of the moment, Danger Mouse. There is also enough variation from track to track that he manages to avoid the typical hip-hop second-half letdown. In the song “Social Distortion” guest MF Doom (the best guest one can get, ever) unleashes one of the best lines ever: “Bum, feel the sting linger / wrote this humdinger with a dislocated bling finger.” Now that’s some classic stuff.